Aramco appoints banks to advise on share sale

Saudi Aramco is yet to pick a foreign stock market to list its shares.

Saudi Aramco has formally appointed JPMorgan Chase & Co, Morgan Stanley and HSBC as international financial advisors for its initial public offering, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The trio join Moelis & Co and Evercore, which have been appointed independent financial advisors, one source said of what is expected to be the world’s biggest share sale.

The Saudi authorities aim to sell up to 5% of Aramco, listing the shares in Riyadh and at least one foreign exchange to raise cash for investment in new industries, in a bid to diversify away from oil exports in an era of cheap crude.

Aramco has appointed Saudi Arabia’s NCB Capital 1180.SE and Samba Capital 1090.SE as local advisors, the sources said.

Reuters previously reported that JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Moelis and Evercore had been asked to work on the global listing, while HSBC was a leading contender to join them. Samba Capital was earlier named as one of two local advisors.

One source said all the banks had now been “onboarded”, a term indicating they had been fully briefed on the IPO process, and had been tasked with work that includes helping ensure systems on the Saudi stock exchange, the Tadawul, can be integrated with a foreign exchange.

Saudi Aramco is however yet to pick a foreign stock market to list its shares.